Google data center wins approval in Minnesota after protests delay council vote twice — 200-acre project moves forward despite opposition from local residents, tech giant scales down project and drops $80 million tax break request

What happened

Google’s proposed Hermantown data center (a building full of computers that runs online services) has cleared a major approval hurdle after the city council unanimously backed the project on October 30. Google has secured approval for a proposed data center in Hermantown, Minnesota, following a unanimous vote by the city council, MPR News reports. Google is an Internet and software company based in Mountain View.

The decision, reached on Friday, October 30, clears a major hurdle for the company following at least two postponed meetings and hours of public opposition, though the project still faces lawsuits and a separate inquiry into its electricity supply. The proposed development could cover just over 200 acres in a rural residential area outside Duluth with three data center buildings spanning approximately 1.66 million square feet.

The company changed its initial plan of putting up four buildings to three, capped their height at 33 feet, and agreed to monitor nearby private wells —but each building would still be larger than six football fields. Google also agreed to withdraw an earlier request for up to $80 million in property tax breaks.

The meeting, which was capped at 85 people and offered a livestream, ended shortly before midnight, with some criticizing the attendance restriction. Council member John Geisler, however, clarified the move, noting that the decision concerned local land use application rather than the wide debate over artificial intelligence or big technology companies.

Latest Videos From Tom's Hardware Watch full video here: The approval comes at a hefty price for Google , with the company being forced to make several changes during the approval process. The revised arrangement is now expected to generate about $3 million in annual property tax for the city, with a separate decommissioning agreement valued at $210 million in place. Supporters point to those provisions as evidence that Google had responded to local concerns.